The Richardson Factor

I’m beginning to think Bill Richardson possesses some sort of Jedi-mind trick capability, which would explain not only why he’s been able to convince vicious dictators to do his bidding but also why he continues to rise in the polls despite some sub par debate performances and an incoherent appearance on Meet the Press that might have derailed other candidates.Richardson’s latest knee-slapper was his assertion yesterday that Iowa is one of the Top 10 states in the country at risk of a terrorist attack.

And, indeed, everyone I know in DC medialand, no matter how liberal or how conservative, views Richardson as ridiculous. And I think it turns out that Richardson is a pretty problematic candidate in a bunch of ways. That said, I don’t think he’s using Jedi mind tricks to build support for his candidacy, I think he’s using the fact that he’s promising to actually end the war in Iraq without “residual forces.”

The Clinton/Obama/Edwards troika have all, though to various extents, softened their backing for the residuum over the past couple of months, but they could still all go further in this direction — to where Richardson is, for example — and at a minimum I hope Richardson keeps gaining support until one of them does. It’s obvious that the first instinct of the three other candidates’ political consultants was that Democratic primary voters don’t really care about the war and can be easily bought off with some Bush-bashing applause lines and misleading rhetoric.